“Roma,” the new movie from “Gravity” Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón, marks a major milestone for the filmmaker. The Spanish-language drama gives Cuarón his first cinematography credit on a feature film, and Netflix’s first trailer has given viewers a first look at what to expect from his cinematography. Click through the gallery for the footage’s most eye-opening images.

Cuarón has worked with Emmanuel Lubezki on every feature except “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” The director told IndieWire earlier this year he stepped into the cinematographer role after scheduling conflicts prevented Lubezki from joining production.

“Roma” is set in Mexico City in the early 1970s. The story follows a young domestic worker named Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio) as she works for a middle-class family over the course of a life-changing year.

Cuarón told IndieWire he considers “Roma” the most “essential movie” of his career. “It’s the first film I was fully able to convey what I wanted to convey as a film,” he said. “It’s a story in many different shapes and hints of emotions that have been present since the moment I wanted to be a director.”

Cuarón shot “Roma” on 65mm using the digital Alexa 65 camera. Executive producer and Participant Media CEO David Linde said the movie showcases “really pristine, almost never-before-seen black and white.”

“I’ve been very specific and choosy about working with cinematographers that are not [Lubezki],” Cuarón told IndieWire. The director had served as cinematographer on short films and on some reshoots of his previous films, but “Roma” marks the first time he is director of photography on a feature.

Cuarón originally wanted Lubezki to shoot the movie, not only because of their previous work together but also because the DP shared a similar childhood growing up in Mexico City. When Lubezki could not make his schedule work, Cuarón knew he was the only other choice to film “Roma.”

“Roma” is based on Cuarón’s own memories of his childhood growing up in Mexico City. “90 percent of the scenes represented in the film are scenes taken out of my memory,” Cuarón told IndieWire. “Sometimes directly, sometimes a bit more obliquely.”

“It’s about a moment of time that shaped me, but also a moment of time that shaped a country,” Cuarón told IndieWire when asked what the movie means to him. “It was the beginning of a long transition in Mexico.”

Cuarón considered hiring other cinematographers he admired, but he didn’t want to hire an English-language DP and have to translate his own experience. This is when the director made the “scary decision” to become his own cinematographer.

Cuarón told IndieWire his choice to serve as his own cinematographer ended up being hugely beneficial to the “Roma” creative process. “I was forced to be on the set,” he said. “By me being there, different transformations would happen and subtle changes to each scene.”

“I was surrounded by my past the whole time and it was part of that essential process that I wanted,” Cuarón told IndieWire about being his own cinematographer. “The fact Chivo couldn’t do it was in many ways a benefit for the creative process.”

The film’s official synopsis mentions the story takes place as Mexico faces a “confrontation between a government-backed militia and student demonstrators.” The trailer includes numerous shots of students training for what could be a violent protest.

“Roma” features a cast of mostly unknown actors, especially to American audiences. Yalitza Aparicio stars as the domestic worker Cleo, while Marina de Tavira plays the family’s matriarch Sofia. Marco Graf and Daniela Demesa also star.

“Roma” will be released on Netflix, but the streaming giant has comitted to launching the movie in select theaters at the same time the movie becomes available to stream around the world.

“It has to reach the biggest audience possible,” Cuarón said about deciding to partner with Netflix on the release. “For me, when Netflix made a pitch to us, this film being so intimate for me, I was really concerned with the film not being able to reach as much of an audience as possible.”

Cuarón shot “Roma” on location in Mexico City or on sets that were exact replicas of the places where the scene was set. The movie marks the director’s return to filming in Mexico since “Y Tu Mamá También.”

Executive producer David Linde told IndieWire Netflix has made a “tremendous commitment to the movie.” “The goal is for people to see it in the theater in all its glory and also for it to be seen by as many people as possible,” he said.

In addition to featuring 65mm cinematography, “Roma” also utilizes state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos technology for its sound mixing and editing. Both Cuarón and Linde stressed the importance of the film’s sound design when talking about the project with IndieWire.

Cuarón shot “Roma” on location in Mexico City or on sets that were exact replicas of the places where the scene was set. The movie marks the director’s return to filming in Mexico since “Y Tu Mamá También.”

“Roma” will world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival before screening at both TIFF and the New York Film Festival. The film will likely surface in the ultra-secret Telluride lineup as well. Netflix plans to release “Roma” later this year.